Book 34, 2020

Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I started reading Smoke Bitten by Patricia Briggs yesterday. It's the 12th installment in her "Mercy Thompson" series. I could have stayed up longer to finish it last night, but I opted to finish it this morning.

When Underhill opens a doorway to itself in Mercy and Adam's backyard, it's for certain that nothing good will come of it. Mercy's suspicions are proven correct when they learn that something has escaped from Underhill via the doorway--something that can take a person over and assume their form with a single bite. It could be anyone or anything, and when it begins targeting those closest to Mercy, she starts calling on her contacts to learn how to stop it.

In addition to a fae of unknown origin in their territory, a small pack of werewolves has begun encroaching. Dealing with them should be a minor matter to a pack of Adam's size and strength, but these wolves have witchcraft on their side.

Compounding these problems is the fact that Adam has withdrawn from Mercy, keeping her at arms length as if to protect her from himself. Mercy is having none of it. Everything in the Tri-Cities is in chaos, but Chaos is Mercy's forte, and if anyone can restore the balance, it's this coyote shifter.

As with all books in this series, characters are vibrant and alive. There are some I would have liked to have seen more of, but others that had been fringe players before came to the forefront in this one. In that respect, it was refreshing to learn more about them. Best of all, a favorite character of mine put in a return appearance, much to my delight. The plot, although it pelted along at breakneck speed, still managed to flow smoothly. Fight scenes were different than usual, in that they were less physical and more metaphysical. It was odd, but not in a bad way.

Favorite lines:
♦ If I'd known how much better I'd feel with new carpet, I'd have hunted down a zombie werewolf to disembowel a long time ago.
♦ "I have decided to be amused by the whole thing."
♦ It just wasn't useful to run around shrieking in fear.
♦ Cats are good company when you are sad or worried.

Excellent story, jarring in some places, and soothing in others, with some hints dropped at what may come in future books. Five stars!